CREDITS INDUSTRY NEWS
Publisher
McLean Events, Conferences and Media Ltd.
Suite 4, Maple Place
Bedford MK41 9BB
United Kingdom
Tel +44 1234 954201
www.erpecnewslive.com
German office
Lindenstraße 37
72488 Sigmaringen
Deutschland
Production
The Lion Press
19 Market Square
Sandy SG19 1EH
United Kingdom
Chief Editor
Nick Needs
McLean Events, Conferences and Media Ltd.
nick@mcleanevents.com
Tel +44 7786 607075
Art Director
Sian Davies
McLean Events, Conferences and Media Ltd.
sian@mcleanevents.com
Tel +44 7960 857447
Project Manager
Sandra Stroppel
McLean Events, Conferences and Media Ltd.
sandra@mcleanevents.com
Tel +44 1234 954201
Advertising Enquiries
Advertising will be accepted in each issue
on a limited basis. For advertising rates and
feature information, please refer to
www.erpecnewslive.com.
For advertising enquiries, please contact:
Sandra Stroppel
McLean Events, Conferences and Media Ltd.
sandra@mcleanevents.com
Tel +44 1234 954201
erpecnews is published monthly by McLean
Events, Conferences and Media Ltd. and
distributed to retail petroleum operations in
Europe, Asia, South America, Africa and the
Middle East. McLean Events, Conferences
and Media Ltd. is the organiser of erpec,
the leading business forum, held every two
years, for Europe’s retail petroleum market.
Copyright
The views expressed in print are those of
the author and do not necessarily represent
those of the publisher, McLean Events,
Conferences and Media Ltd. All rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any form or by means electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recorded
or otherwise without the prior permission of
the copyright holder.
www.erpecnewslive.com
McLean Events
7-Eleven Taiwan opens first unmanned ‘X-Store’
7-Eleven Taiwan has unveiled a new unmanned
‘X-Store’ using state-of-the-art
technology to serve customers without staff.
President Chain Store Corp. announced
that it has officially launched an internal test
run of what it is calling it’s new “X-Store,”
which would be only the second such unmanned
7-Eleven in the world after one was
launched in Seoul, South Korea in May of
last year. The first X-Store in Taiwan is located
in corporate headquarters as during
the initial testing phase it will only be open
to internal company employees, and instead
of staying open 24 hours or from 7 a.m. to
11 p.m., as the name implies, it will at this
stage only be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The store will employ a variety of new software
and hardware to operate a new series
of services provided via facial recognition
technology including “Face in,” for entry to
the store; “Face pay,” to make payments;
and “Face go,” for checkout. Many of these
new technologies will be the first of their kind
in the convenience store industry, including
its Openpoint membership system, facial biometric
identification, production identification,
automated induction through its “open
show case,””icash,” smart voice interactivity,
Internet of Things system utilization, hot
spot analysis, microwave ovens with scanners,
self service POS systems, electronic
labels, e-POP, robot greeters, and robot
sweepers among other innovations.
TESLA working to build truck charging network
Tesla is collaborating with Anheuser-Busch
and United Parcel Service to build on-site
charging terminals at their facilities as part
of the automaker’s efforts to roll out the vehicle
next year. Elon Musk, the chief executive
of Tesla, has said little about how he plans to
turn his prototype electric truck into reality.
But Reuters has reported that Tesla is collaborating
with Anheuser-Busch and United
Parcel Service to build on-site charging terminals
at their facilities. Details of the partnerships,
which have not been disclosed
previously, are still being hammered out, but
include design and engineering from Tesla,
the companies said. The firms are among
nine major corporations that have placed
pre-orders for Tesla’s truck, dubbed the
Semi. With questions swirling over whether
Tesla can make good on its aggressive
timetable, news of the collaboration is a sign
that corporate customers are taking the effort
seriously, and that Tesla is working to
solve one of the biggest impediments: keeping
the big-rigs powered. Initially the Semis
would be limited to routes that would get
them back to home base before the batteries
are spent, the firms involved said although
some companies are already discussing
the possibility of shared facilities and costs.
Sources have indicated that Tesla is also
moving ahead with plans for its own stations
to sell electricity to truckers who pull up
for a charge. Tesla already operates more
than 1,100 “supercharger” stations globally
for drivers of its passenger cars. Musk has
spoken publicly of doing something similar
for its heavy-duty trucks by installing a
network of solar-powered “megachargers”
that could juice up a Semi battery in 30 minute.
But just how quickly Tesla could build
a robust network of electric filling stations
for commercial truckers is not clear. Some
analysts and trucking executives doubt that
Tesla can deliver the Semi in 2019, much
less a vast charging infrastructure to support
it. A Tesla spokeswoman confirmed that
the company is working closely with large
customers to build Semi charging stations
but declined to comment further on Tesla’s
plans for its own truck-charging terminals.
Motor Fuel Group acquires MRH in £1.2 billion deal
Motor Fuel Group (MFG) today announced
the acquisition of MRH, the U.K.’s largest
petrol station and convenience retail operator
for £1.2 billlion. The transaction will create
the U.K.’s number one operator by number
of sites and number two by fuel volume.
MFG is owned by funds managed by private
investment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice .
MFG and MRH together will operate more
than 900 sites , which are predominantly
company - owned and franchisee - operated
sites. These include fuel brands BP,
Esso, Jet, Murco , Shell and Texaco and retail
brands Budgens, Costa Coffee, Greggs,
Spar and Subway , as well as the MRH -
owned brand, Hursts . On a combined basis,
MFG and MRH sold approximately 3. 6
billion litres of fuel in 2017.
2 erpecnews is published by McLean Events, Conferences and Media Ltd.